Today’s Jets Twit Directory Links October 11, 2012

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Rex Ryan disagreed with Terrell Owens’ claim that the Jets are a desperate team because they played a cornerback — Antonio Cromartie — at wide receiver for five snaps in Monday night’s loss to the Texans.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The NFL is looking in to the play where Brian Cushing’s season ended for the Houston Texans on Monday night in their 23-17 victory over the Jets.
The play in question came on a 2nd & 7 effort from the Jets 32-yard line with 10:37 to go in the second quarter. With [...]

Backup safety Eric Smith sprained a knee Wednesday in practice and won’t play Sunday against the Colts. Initially, the team feared it was a season-ending injury. Chances are, Smith will miss at least a couple of games. It wasn’t immediately known if it’s the same knee he injured in the preseason, which caused him to miss a month.

Smith played a season-high 23 snaps last week, as the Jets used him at times with Yeremiah Bell and LaRon Landry in a three-safety package.

Question: who is Clyde Gates? Answer: He’s the Jets’ fourth?…fifth?…sixth?…string wide receiver who left Monday night’s game with a shoulder injury and didn’t return. In fact, Gates was so far down the list of options that he was nearly cut before injuries devastated the receiving corps. What? You mean you didn’t know that about Clyde [...]

“I’ve read a lot of tweets and everybody’s saying that I’m desperate, I’m begging for a job,” Owens said. “But it’s not begging for a job when you know that you can still play at a high level, given the opportunity. When you have a defensive back (Antonio Cromartie) playing offense and running routes, then I think that’s more desperate than my actual tweet itself.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A few quick observations on the Colts (2-2), who travel to MetLife Stadium this weekend:

1. The Colts are coming off an emotional, come-from-behind win over the Packers, a game in which they dedicated to leukemia-stricken coach Chuck Pagano. But now they have to travel outside their comfort zone. The Colts have dropped nine straight road games, the second-longest active streak in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

You can hate the Jets now. But they won’t stop now. They can’t stop now. We will soon find out what this team is all about as they approach a stretch of games that seem easier (on paper anyway). Courtney Aurillo and Phil Sullivan take a look at where the Jets stand, the injuries and [...]

Thanks to the Jets DTs dropping like flies leaving Damon Harrison as the only healthy DT, the Jets have signed 5-year veteran defensive tackle Daniel Muir. Muir has 108 career tackles and .5 career sacks in 43 career games with the Packers and Colts. To make room for Muir, the Jets have placed LB Josh [...]

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Jets tight end Dustin Keller believes he’ll be able to play Sunday against the Colts after missing the past four games. Keller has battled a nagging hamstring all season and has just one catch for seven yards.

“It’s been way too long, had too many setbacks. Was smart today, got some good reps in and came out of it healthy,” Keller said. “I think I’ll be good to go. I’m pretty positive about it.”

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Wide receiver Stephen Hill and tight end Dustin Keller were both limited in practice Wednesday as they try to make their returns to the field Sunday. Hill has missed the past two games while Keller has missed the past four, but their return could be a much-needed boost to a stagnant offense.

Center Nick Mangold also missed practice after injuring his ankle Monday. He tried to give it a go Wednesday but his ankle didn’t cooperate.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Jets left guard Matt Slauson believes he delivered a legal cut block on Houston linebacker Brian Cushing during Monday night’s loss to the Texans. Cushing, Houston’s leading tackler, suffered a torn ACL on the play and will miss the remainder of the season.

The legality of the hit has been debated as there’s been discussion about whether Slauson clipped or used a clean cut block on Cushing. No flag was thrown on the play.

“Every coach I’ve ever had has taught to cut on the backside of an outside zone play,” Slauson said Wednesday.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Owner Woody Johnson covered a lot of ground Wednesday morning in an interview on CNBC. In addition to expressing confidence in Mark Sanchez but also saying he wants to keep Tim Tebow through 2014, Johnson rehashed Monday night’s loss to the Texans.

Johnson praised Texans DE J.J. Watt. But, at the same time, he second-guessed his team’s offensive strategy.

“The defense end that got his passes last week is probably the defensive player of the year,” Johnson said, referring to Watt’s three tipped passes.